BBC7: The Coma, The Scarifyers, Vostok, Hothouse by Brian Aldiss

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BBC 7's The 7th Dimension The upcoming weeks on BBC Radio 7 is mostly made up of repeats. But that aint necessarily all bad. First up, a repeat of its 2006 serialization of The Coma, a novel by Alex Garland. Hopefully you’ll remember him as the screenwriter for the film 28 Days Later and not the god-offal Sunshine. The five part unabridged reading of Coma begins Monday and the five segments air nightly til Friday.

The Coma
By Alex Garland; Read by Tom Goodman-Hill
5 RADIO BROADCASTS – Minutes Approx 150 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Monday to Friday at 6:30pm and 12:30am
“[A] surreal fantasy which delves into the mysterious workings of the subconscious mind.”

Also repeating radio drama on BBC 7: “A thrilling sci fi adventure”…

Vostok
By Bill Murphy; Performed by a full cast
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Friday at 6pm and 12midnight
Three intrepid heroes venture into the depths beneath the Antarctic ice, to the only unexplored lake in the world: Lake Vostok. Cast: Stuart Milligan, Brana Bajic, David Earl and Ingvar Sigurdsson. Produced as a Radio 7 commission by Lawrence Jackson.

Then, there’s one quite a few folks have recommended…

The Scarifyers - The Nazad ConspiracyThe Scarifyers – The Nazad Conspiracy
By Simon Barnard; Performed by a full cast
3 Parts – Approx. 84 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Saturdays at 6pm and midnight
Professor Dunning and Inspector Lionheart face quarrelsome Generals, sinister clowns and Russian demons as they unravel ‘The Nazad Conspiracy’. With Terry Molloy and Nicholas Courtney, The Scarifyers is a Cosmic Hobo Production.

And finally there’s this all new serialization out of Radio Scotland, read by Blake of Blake’s 7 (Gareth Thomas). This one is also special because it is a part of a trial for a limited number of radio series which are being made available with a feature called “series catch-up.” The concept is that the availability window for individual episodes is extended beyond the normal seven days after their broadcast, allowing you the chance to listen to an entire series for up to a week after the final episode is broadcast. It isn’t as convienient as podcasting the show, or even Radio Downloader-ing, but it’s nice to have BBC7 trying out some new things. Check out Hothouse

Hothouse
By Brian Aldiss; Read by Gareth Thomas
5 Parts – [ABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Sundays at 6.30pm and 00.30am
A “1962 cult classic”, set millions of years in the future. Earth is a dense jungle and in this florid and dangerous environment a young boy with a maverick streak tears his tribe apart as he embarks upon a relentless search for knowledge.

posted by Jesse

BBC 7: H.G. Wells, Brian Aldiss, Hergé’s Tintin and a promise of Arthur C. Clarke tales to come)

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BBC Radio 7 - BBC7By the sheer volume of H.G. Wells stories airing this coming week on BBC Radio 7 you’d might think it was H.G. Wells who had just died, and not Arthur C. Clarke! But no, BBC7 is planning on playing some Clarke for they announced the following: “As a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke we will be repeating these programmes [four readings commisioned and broadcast in 2007] in the near future.” Good on them! Until then…

In typical Wellsian fashion (time travel used to be fantasy until Wells got his mitts on it) this 1901 tale transforms a Fantasy concept (the existence of past lives) into a SF theme, casting a future life (as of a dream), that is both vivid and recognizable – written before both of the World Wars it depicts a world in which tanks, airplanes and something that sound like a nuclear weapon exists…

A Dream of Armageddon by H.G. WellsA Dream Of Armageddon
By H.G. Wells; Read by Robert Bathurst
2 Parts – Approx. 2 Hours [ABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Monday and Tuesday at 6.30pm and midnight
A tale of an advanced civilisation descending into mindless war was an uncannily close prediction of the horrors of WW2 when it was written in 1901.

This one, sounding more like Lovecraft than it has any right to, should be a treat for sailor and land lubber alike…

The Sea Raiders by H.G. WellsThe Sea Raiders
By H.G. Wells; Read by Robert Bathurst
1 Broadcast – Approx. 30 Minutes [ABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Wednesday at 6.30pm and 12.30am
Another classic tale of high adventure by sci-fi master H. G. Wells. Strange monsters from the deep start terrorising the horrified residents of Devon’s coastline.

Yep, you’ll find Wells was responsible for most of the well worn tropes of SF – this next one is described as the inspiration for the Star Trek (original series) episode “Wink of an Eye”

The New Accelerator by H.G. WellsThe New Accelerator
By H.G. Wells; Read by Robert Bathurst
1 Broadcast – Approx. 30 Minutes [ABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Thursday at 6.30pm and 12.30am
A friend of H.G. Wells is on the verge of making a scientific breakthrough which promises to revolutionise human life – so the two friends decide to road-test the new drug – with exciting but dangerous consequences.

And a Brian Aldiss tale, first broadcast back in May 2007…

BBC Radio 7 - Song Of The SilencerSong Of The Silencer
By Brian Aldiss; Read by Nigel Anthony
1 Broadcast – Approx. 30 Minutes [ABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Friday at 6.30pm and 12.30am
To establish universal peace, scientists have constructed a massive computer designed to mimic human thought and act as a guide to world decision making. But will flicking the switch signal the end of the human race?

First broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in 1993, here’s a treat of an audio drama…

The Adventures of Tintin RADIO DRAMAThe Adventures of Tintin
Based on the Hergé comic book series; Performed by a full cast
6 Broadcasts – 3 Hours [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC7
Broadcast: Monday to Monday at 9am, 8pm and 1am
Famous boy reporter Tintin has been covering the return of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition from Peru. When all the participants fall mysteriously ill, Tintin is compelled to investigate.

All of the above will be available on the “listen again” page the day after they air.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Brian Aldiss story broadcast on BBC Radio 7

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BBC 7's The 7th DimensionAired on the weekend, BBC Radio 7, has the first of two parts of an abridged reading of Brian Aldiss’ Nebula Award winning 1965 novelette, Man In His Time. It was was adapted for radio to celebrate his 80th birthday, and is introduced by Aldiss himself. The story is about an interplanetary astronaut, who upon return home is flummoxed to discover that he experiences everything around him on Earth as 3.3077 minutes into everyone else’s future.

Man In His Time by Brian AldissMan In His Time
By Brian Aldiss; Read by Jamie Glover
2 Broadcasts – Approx 60 Minutes [ABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Sunday Sep 16 & Sunday Sept 23 2007

Use the BBC Player’s ‘listen again’ service to hear part 1 which is online now – and listen for part 2 on this coming Sunday.

BBC7’s The Seventh Dimension has a Brian Aldiss short story!

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BBC 7's The 7th DimensionI missed telling you about a cool tale broadcast last Sunday. Though I have been remiss, all is not lost, you can still listen to this specially commissioned reading through the “Listen Again” service of BBC Radio 7. The story is Song Of The Silencer and it is a “chilling account” of man’s attempt to make order out of chaos by constructing an ‘ultimate machine.’ First Published in 1979. The reader is Nigel Anthony, a winner of both Sony award and Radio Times awards for radio performances.

BBC Radio 7 - Song Of The SilencerSong Of The Silencer
By Brian Aldiss; Read by Nigel Anthony
1 Broadcast – Approx. 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Sunday May 20th, 2007 @ 6.30pm and 12.30am (U.K. Time)
Humanity has built a massive computer out in space simply called the Ultimate Machine, that perfectly mimics the human brain — but some are predicting disaster once it is activated.

BBC Radio 4: Brian Aldiss chooses his Desert Island music / Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde RADIO DRAMA

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Online AudioRoy, our UK correspondent, has written int to remind me of a repeat broadcast of Desert Island Discs (a show in which celebrities list and discuss their favorite music) that will be airing on Friday (Feb. 2nd @ 9:00am) with guest of Science Fiction author Brian Aldiss. Guests of the show are asked to choose the eight records they would take with them to a desert island. Due to music rights issues this show is NOT AVAILABLE through the ‘Listen Again’ service, so one has to ‘tune in’ or listen via live stream RealAudio.

In more straightforward listening, Roy also tells us that a new production of a new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s proto-Science Fiction story The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde that will be upcoming on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Saturday Play‘ slot…

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde
By Robert Louis Stevenson; Performed by a FULL CAST
Radio Broadcast – Approx. 60 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Saturday February 3rd 2007 @ 14:30 (U.K. Time)

And, you can look for this one on the ‘Listen Again‘ feature the day after it airs.